A Psychohistory of Metaphors
Envisioning Time, Space, and Self through the Centuries
By (author) Brian J. McVeigh
Publication date:
04 April 2016Length of book:
244 pagesPublisher
Lexington BooksDimensions:
239x158mm6x9"
ISBN-13: 9781498520287
How have figures of speech configured new concepts of time, space, and mind throughout history? Brian J. McVeigh answers this question in A Psychohistory of Metaphors: Envisioning Time, Space, and Self through the Centuries by exploring “meta-framing:” our ever-increasing capability to “step back” from the environment, search out its familiar features to explain the unfamiliar, and generate “as if” forms of knowledge and metaphors of location and vision. This book demonstrates how analogizing and abstracting have altered spatio-visual perceptions, expanding our introspective capabilities and allowing us to adapt to changing social circumstances.
Brian McVeigh extends Jaynes’s ideas on metaphor and thought, expands upon the different features of consciousness, explains the interrelatedness of our conceptions of time, space, and the self, and explores some of the implications of our newly learned inner life—the consequences of our consciousness. His ideas constitute a significant step forward to both understanding the metaphorical basis of thought and the human condition.